IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency
Lost in Interpretation
-
Communicating Risk during Radiation
Emergencies
International Conference on Effective Nuclear Regulatory Systems:
Sustaining Improvements Globally 16 April 2016
Vienna, Austria
P. Meschenmoser, Incident and Emergency Centre
IAEA
To get started…
Pictures
freedigitalphotos.net / Phil Thebault /
freedigitalphotos.net / patrisyu
f lickr.com/photos/doobybrain/
IAEA
What Makes Radiation Risks Special?
990 people died in aviation
accidents in 2014
How did you travel to this
workshop? Would you say flying
is not safe?
Picture: Andrew Nash/fl ickr.com
IAEA
Public’s Risk Perception is Different
• Nuclear and radiological risks feel more
frightening to the public
• Even when scientific facts show a risk is low,
psychological characteristics play a large role in
how people perceive the situation
• These characteristics must be acknowledged in
order to effectively manage public behavior
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Key Aspects of Risk Perception
• Media attention
• Understanding
• Familiarity
• Scientific certainty
• History / Stigma
• Onset of effects
• Reversibility
• Availability of information
• Voluntariness
• Control
• Benefits
• Fairness of risk distribution
• Nature of risk
• Catastrophic potential
• Personification
• Personal participation
• Uncertainty
• Awareness
• Fear
• Influence on children and future
generations
IAEA
Lost in Interpretation
They said the dose rate
is 75 µSv/hr in my
garden.
They said I was exposed
to 50 mSv.
6
Am I safe?
What should I do? Is my baby safe?
Do I need to have an
abortion?
High doses
above background
Gy
Bq/kg
cps Sv
Dose
Risks
IAEA
“Forget the educational messages that we
prepared. The public wants to know if it is safe
for themselves and for their kids. And, if not,
what do they do about it, period. They don’t care
what a Sievert is.”
UPMC Center for Health Security Baltimore
Lesson Learnt
IAEA
Revised Safety Requirements GSR Part 7
Requirement 13
Arrangements shall be
made so that in a nuclear or
radiological emergency
information is provided to
the public in plain and
understandable language.
IAEA
Yes We Can…
KISS Keep it Simple for Safety
- University of Arkansas
IAEA
People Only Want to Know: Am I Safe? Example system based on radiation protection grounds
• ‘Dangerous to health’ • Doses that may result in severe deterministic effects
• Medical examination and treatments needed
• ‘Possible health effects’ • Doses that may result in an increase of incidence of
cancer or deterministic effect
• Longer term medical follow up to detect early and to treat effectively radiation induced health effects needed
• ‘No expected health effects’ – ‘Safe’ Doses that will neither result in any severe deterministic
effects nor in a discernible increase in the incidence of cancer among the exposed population
No medical action needed
IAEA
How to Assess What is Safe
REFERENCES AVAILABLE:
• EPR-NPP Public
Protective Actions
(2013) IAEA web site –
Free PDF
• Health Physics Society
Journal, January 2015
IAEA
Why is This More Essential Than Ever?
IAEA
Do you know what this is?
IAEA
Did You Say a Phone?
• Library > 106.000 books (300 pages)
• Fax
• Scanner
• Photo camera
• Video camera
• Maps
• Audio recorder/DVD player
• Navigation system
• Mirror
• Compass
• Calculator
• Phone
• Laptop
• Credit card
• TV
• Radio
• Diary
• Remote control
• Newspaper
• Watch
• Weather radar
• Bank
...and a whole satellite news gathering unit!
IAEA
The Way We Communicate Has Changed
Pic
ture
s: T
ere
sa A
ve
lla
no
sa, P
hili
pp
e P
ut / fl
ickr
.co
m
1960 2007
2015
IAEA
What Happens Online in 60 Seconds?
79,000 posts
2,5 m posts
3,3 m posts
25 hrs of video
74 hrs of video
120 hrs of video
2012
2012
2012
2013
2013
2013
2014
2014
2014
98,000 tweets
278,000 tweets
347,000 tweets
Source: Centre for Learning and Teaching, Hong Kong
IAEA
And the World Turns: New Formats
Paris attacks
13 Nov 2015
IAEA
Consequence for Communicators
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The Consequence of Failure
Pictures: jscreationzs, Stuart Miles/freedigitalphotos.net
• Unintentional rumormongering (e.g. due to fear)
• Intentional rumormongering (e.g. terrorism)
IAEA
At the End…
If you do not want to tell the people
what is ‘safe’, what would you say?
You have 140 characters left!
IAEA
Thank you for your attention…
